Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Yarn Along and Along and Along

I had hoped to have this cushion cover completed by the time my daughter returned home from university. I thought it would be a nice welcome home to have a bright cheery cushion resting on her bed when she traipsed her weary post-exam self through her bedroom door.

She's been home for two weeks now ... the cushion is still not complete :( I'll admit I was a bit stuck once I finished all the strips of knitting (at least I hope I've knitted enough strips now!). I was following the instructions from a book, which have been a bit disappointing. Keep in mind this is actually a book written to teach children how to knit, so you'd think it would be straightforward. The increase they explain in the book, is not the increase they used for the cushion. So I altered the instructions to suit myself with respect to all the increases and decreases, I just kept the same number of stitches so that I would get the same wavy pattern in the end. I didn't end up with the lacy look that is evident in the book, but I did want a solid looking cushion since it would get a lot of use.

This is where I'm at now ...

Then I ran into difficulty with sewing up the strips. I love sewing, and I smugly thought this part would be a piece of cake! Not so. The instructions said to whip stitch the strips together ... no problem. But it was turning out horribly! It was looking so messy as you could see every single sloppy stitch. As you can see each strip is a different colour, so no matter which colour you use, all the stitches will show (with whip stitch). I was getting very discouraged at this point because it took me all month to knit up these strips and I wanted to get it finished (partially to add it the Stash Buster Challenge ... but I didn't finish it in time for April). I was stuck. Then life got in the way and I put it aside for a bit and it sat all messy and ignored for a week or so.

Finally, I dragged it into my lap again yesterday and ripped out all the whip stitched mess (I only had a partial row done, so that wasn't too bad). Then I checked out YouTube (a knitter's best friend), and found some very clear and wonderful tutorials using the mattress stitch. So easy!! I went to work right away and have now got three strips sewn together. And the stitches don't even show! Amazing!

I LOVE this cushion now :) Hopefully I will have it finished by the end of the week ... fingers crossed. Just look at that perfect seam. It's puckering a bit in spots, but I'm hoping the blocking process will take care of that. This is the first project I've sewn up a seam with the mattress stitch, but it is definitely something I will be using a lot more in the future.

I'm currently reading a very good book which I received for Christmas from my husband. I cannot put this book down. It relates true events that happened to a duke's family during WWI. The author has researched private letters that were held at the duke's castle, and she has put together a very intriguing mystery. Still not finished yet, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it and would highly recommend it. I'll next be wanting to get Catherine Bailey's previous book "Black Diamonds" as soon as I finish this.

Thanks Hazel, If you can believe it, the colours are even more vibrant in real life, but they fade a bit with the photography. Maybe for the final shoot I'll take it outdoors. I hope this weekend will be a baking weekend for me with choices from your lovely cookbooks ... amazing books!!! Thank you so much again, I can't wait for a few hours to work on something there :)

Hi Kathy, yes, I should check out the internet more often because there are videos for EVERY trouble I've had with the knitting. People are just so clever and helpful to go to the trouble of posting these videos. I love the design too, and now that it's getting near the end I'm anxious to complete it! Enjoy your day!

Thanks Claire, Well of course, we all know better than silly old instructions don't we?! I get myself into hot water more often than not, and so many times I say "why didn't I just do what the instructions said!!". But it's a learning experience a lot of the times and things work out (most times!) in the end. Another walk by the ocean today for you? It's summer here now ... H.O.T.!! sunscreen and hat weather all of a sudden :) xox

The things I've had to learn the hard way! They most obviously did not use a whip stitch for the cushion in the book. I just wonder how many children are struggling through the book and being discouraged when their finished piece will look like garbage compared to the photo. All so very different ... a bit of a cheat really.

I'm SO happy to have sorted things out. The increase/decrease part was hard enough for me in order to get it looking even on both sides. I really must shut the computer off now and get a move on as I have only a small window to work in. I won't show anymore until it's finished ... stay tuned!

It looks beautiful! Hi Wendy, I'm stopping in from yarn along, it's very nice to be here. I love that you found a more suitable seam, I love mattress stitch too. Your cushion is going to be great, what a lucky daughter!

Hi Lori Ann, and thanks for popping in! I'm still a novice at knitting, so I was very happy to find the mattress stitch worked so much better. I knew of it, but just hadn't tried it, but YouTube made it so easy to understand.

Wendy...I can't wait to see how the cushion turns out!! The colors really blow me away and it looks so lovely already!!!! That book looks very interesting...I sooo enjoy anything that is based on true events!!! Good luck getting it done and make sure you show us when it is finished!!

I absolutely love the colours you've used Wendy! That cushion is going to look so lovely - I want one!! :-)Mattress stitch is the only one I've ever used on knitting - it's very easy to perfect and creates such neat, invisible seams :-)I'm going to have to see if I can get my hands on the pattern...

What an incredibly complicated piece of knitting - I am in awe! So glad to have found your blog - it made me smile when I looked at your profile as I am the mother of two teenagers (one at university) and 'own' a better half, a dog and a rabbit! Look forward to mooching through your older posts x Jane

Well, this project is turning into more work than I had originally anticipated. I thought I'd be finished in a week flat ... one month later ... I want to move onto something else now, and I don't suppose blogging for the past hour is helping ;)

Your cushion is going to be fabulous! Such an lovely design - it's like the ripple pattern but you would need so much more patience for this to do all that sewing together. It will certainly pay off though. I would be completely lost without youtube (and clever blog friends) to help out with my knitting problems. Can't wait to see the finished product. Mel x